Sun Belt releases seeds for 2011 Baseball Championship

May 22, 2011 at 2:51 AM CDT - Updated June 24 at 3:36 AM

NEW ORLEANS (SBC) - The 2011 Sun Belt Conference baseball regular season title came down to the final conference weekend once again as FIU and Troy battled for the conference crown and overall top seed at next week's baseball tournament to be held May 25 through 29 at Warhawk Field on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Troy (40-16, 21-9 SBC) took two-of-three games this weekend from South Alabama to win its first regular season title since the 2006 season, the year the Trojans also won the SBC tournament. The Trojans will enter the 2011 tournament as the league's top seed and will be placed into pool A which features seed Nos. 1, 4, 5 and 8. Pool B will feature seed Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 7.

The conference moved to a new round-robin format this season and will feature the top eight of the ten SBC teams competing against each other in two four-team pools with the team with the best record in each pool advancing to the tournament's championship game.

Each team in the tournament will be guaranteed three games and a day off prior to Championship Sunday. The tournament will begin on Wednesday, May 25 and continue through Sunday, May 29. Two-way ties in a pool will be broken by head-to-head play. In the case of a three-way tie, the highest seed will advance.

FIU (37-17-1, 20-9-1 SBC) concluded its weekend winning two-of-three against intra-state rival FAU and has won 18 of its last 19 games. The Panthers lead the SBC in hitting and in pitching. FIU, one of the hottest teams in the NCAA, won the 2010 title over Troy. The Panthers will look to become just the third team in SBC history to win back-to-back tournament titles.

Louisiana-Lafayette (31-24, 18-12 SBC) enters the 2011 tournament with 18 SBC wins and 31 overall wins. The Ragin' Cajuns were the co-champions of the regular season a year ago. ULL is making its 18th appearance in the SBC tournament and will look for its first SBC tournament title since the 1998 season.

South Alabama (29-26, 15-15 SBC), the most storied program in the SBC tournament, will be making its 33rd appearance in head coach Steve Kittrell's final season at the helm of the Jaguar program. The Jags have won 11 SBC tournament titles and seeks its first since the 2005 season.

Arkansas State (25-30-1, 13-16-1 SBC) will be making its first back-to-back tournament appearance since the 2005-2006 seasons. The Red Wolves qualified for 14 consecutive tournaments from 1993-2006.

Game times for the this year's tournament are 11 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the championship game scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The championship game will be televised live by CSS/CST as part of the Sun Belt Network.

The change in format is the first change since the 1999 season when the tournament expanded to an eight-team double-elimination setup. FIU won the SBC tournament in 2010, defeating Troy 14-10 in each team's sixth game of the tournament.

The Sun Belt Conference has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Baseball Championship for 22 consecutive years. In seven of the past 12 years the Sun Belt has sent three teams to the NCAAs.

Fans can catch all of the 2011 SBC Baseball Championship live courtesy of SBC Extra. For just $9.95 you can enjoy each game leading up to the championship finale on Sunday.

2011 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Seeds (SBC Record)

1. Troy (21-9, 0.700) – A

2. FIU (20-9-1, 0.683) – B

3. Louisiana-Lafayette (18-12, 0.600) – B

4. WKU (17-13, 0.567) – A

5. Florida Atlantic (17-13, 0.567) – A

6. South Alabama (15-15, 0.500) – B

7. Arkansas State (13-16-1, 0.450) – B

8. UALR (10-20, 0.333) - A

GAME SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 25

Game 1 - 11am (5) Florida Atlantic vs. (4) WKU

Game 2 - 3pm (7) Arkansas State vs. (2) FIU

Game 3 - 7pm (8) UALR vs. (1) Troy

Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama are off

Thursday, May 26

Game 4 - 11am (6) South Alabama vs. (3) Louisiana-Lafayette

Game 5 - 3pm (4) WKU vs. (8) UALR

Game 6 - 7pm (1) Troy vs. (5) Florida Atlantic

Arkansas State and FIU are off

Friday, May 27

Game 7 - 11am (3) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (7) Arkansas State

Game 8 - 3pm (2) FIU vs. (6) South Alabama

Game 9*-7pm (1) Troy vs. (4) WKU

Florida Atlantic and UALR are off

Saturday, May 28

Game 10* - 11am (5) Florida Atlantic vs. (8) UALR

Game 11* - 3pm (6) South Alabama vs. (7) Arkansas State

Game 12* - 7pm (2) FIU vs. (3) Louisiana-Lafayette

Troy and WKU are off

Sunday, May 29 - Championship Game (televised by the Sun Belt Network)

1pm -Winner of Pool A vs. Winner of Pool B

All Times Central and Subject to Change

Each game of the championship, excluding the championship on Sunday, will be streamed live on SunBeltSports.org. The championship game on Sunday, May 29 will be televised live by the Sun Belt Network, beginning at 1 p.m. CDT. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

* - Home team for games 9-12 will be determined by a pre-tournament coin toss conducted by the head coaches.